Is it legal?

In the words of the immortal character Vincent from the movie ‘Pulp Fiction’, “Yeah, it’s legal, but it ain’t a hundred percent legal.”

I’m not going to pretend that I know enough here to advise you. I don’t. But I can tell you how I see it and hope that others more knowledgeable jump in to help us here. First, if you really want to get into the details on this, go to the NORML website. It’s in the Links section or you can go directly to their state-by-state legal details at:

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4516.

Now here’s the summary for those in California like me. It is completely legal for you to obtain and use pot, but you have to follow a few rules. It’s very easy. Take a look at my ‘Getting Started’ articles linked in the left sidebar of this page for more information about exactly how to get started. You should understand, however, that California is OK with you having marijuana, but the Federal government (DEA, FBI, etc.) is not…at least not officially.

In reality, I cannot find a single case in which a person was prosecuted at a Federal level, having moderate quantities of marijuana on hand, using it legally according to California state law. Especially with the change in President in 2008, the risk of prosecution from medical marijuana use seems to have dropped to near zero at least. That’s my opinion. After all, I’m not concerned about maintaining this blog and I’m not trying to avoid law enforcement in any way. I think the good beings in those Federal law enforcement divisions understand that it’s wrong to persecute people getting medical benefit from marijuana. Plus, it’d be brutal from a public relations point of view at a minimum. I could show them a video of me puking my guts out on chemo, and then a video of me sitting comfortably reading a book to my youngest child. Guess which one requires marijuana?

So if you’re staying in California and obeying the law regarding marijuana, double-check with your own attorney to be perfectly safe, but it seems like the time has come. I also obtained my medical authorization from MMEC, which provides legal assistance in the very unlikely event that you need it. (For the record, I receive(d) no compensation from MMEC, but they treated me very professionally and with compassion and I recommend them highly.)

There are other states that have similar local laws, so I’ll try to pull in information on those in the future. For now, this blog is focused on what I know a bit about — medical marijuana in Southern California.

One final note! Keep the pot away from your kids. You can and will be arrested for one of many charges like ‘contributing to the delinquency of a minor’ if even the local police don’t think you’re doing a good job protecting children. For example, if you keep your weed in an open container around children, maybe with a bong on the coffee table, there’s a problem.

So do some research at NORML and other similar resources and decide for yourself whether it’s a good time for you. I did, and it’s changed my life.